Stocks were generally lower in a day marked by lower trading volumes as bond market were closed for the Veteran's Day holiday. While the S&P and Nasdaq slipped from the record levels at which they'd closed on Friday, the Dow was able to eke out a small gain aided by the strength in Boeing (BA) shares. Some of today's caution was likely driven by comments from President Donald Trump, who said over the weekend that the U.S. would only make a trade deal if it was the “right deal” for America and that trade talks with China had moved more slowly than he would have liked.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., no economic data of note was reported given the holiday.
COMPANY NEWS: In a regulatory filing late in the trading day on Friday, Southwest (LUV) disclosed that based on continued uncertainty around the timing of the return to service of Boeing's grounded 737 MAX, the company plans to proactively remove the MAX from its flight schedule through March 6, 2020. American Airlines (AAL) also said it intends to extend Boeing 737 MAX cancellations until early March, Reuters reported. This morning, Boeing said in an emailed statement to media outlets that the company continues to target FAA certification of the MAX flight control software updates during this quarter. Shares of the plane maker finished the day with a 4.7% advance following the additional clarity on the 737 MAX expectations.
KKR (KKR) has formally approached Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) about what could be the biggest-ever leveraged buyout, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. This morning's news about KKR's approach comes on the heels of reports last week that Walgreens has hired investment bank Evercore Partners (EVR) to explore whether such an LBO deal to go private would be feasible and could be negotiated.
Alibaba Group's (BABA) 11.11 shopping festival, otherwise known as 'Singles' Day,' ended with a record $38.4B in gross merchandise volume, according to preliminary data shared via the company's Alizila news website. Alibaba confirmed the GMV number, which represents a 26% year-over-year increase.
In M&A news, OpenText (OTEX) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Carbonite (CARB) for $23 per share in cash. Following the deal announcement, Carbonite shares jumped 24.7%, while OpenText shares trading in New York were up 2.4%.
In other news, the Wall Street Journal reported that WeWork (WE) has held talks with T-Mobile (TMUS) CEO John Legere about potentially becoming its next CEO following the collapse of its IPO plans and ouster of co-founder Adam Neumann. T-Mobile shares slipped 1.6% after the news, while shares of Sprint (S), which has agreed to a merger with T-Mobile, were down 3.3%.
The Journal also reported that Alphabet's (GOOG) Google teamed up last year with Ascension, the country's second-largest health system, on a secret project called "Nightingale" to collect and crunch the detailed personal health data of millions of Americans across 21 states. The collected information involved in the project included lab results, doctor diagnoses, and hospitalization records, but neither patients nor doctors have been notified, according to the Journal's Rob Copeland.
Additionally, Apple (AAPL) was in focus after The Information reported that the tech giant is planning to launch an augmented reality headset in 2022, followed by a set of glasses in 2023.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Agenus (AGEN), which rose 9.2% after it entered into a license agreement with UroGen Pharma (URGN) to treat urinary tract cancers. UroGen shares were 2.8% higher after the news. Also higher was Plug Power (PLUG), which gained 7.7% after Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral.
Among the notable losers was MyoKardia (MYOK), which dropped 7.6% after it announced 48-week data from its PIONEER-OLE study. Also lower was Scientific Games (SGMS), which fell 5.5% after Susquehanna analyst Joseph Stauff downgraded the stock to Neutral from Positive.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 10.25, or 0.037%, to 27,691.49, the Nasdaq lost 11.04, or 0.13%, to 8,464.28, and the S&P 500 declined 6.07, or 0.20%, to 3,087.01.
KKR
+0.14 (+0.48%)
Walgreens Boots Alliance
+3.06 (+5.17%)
Evercore
-1.14 (-1.46%)
Alibaba
-0.4 (-0.21%)
Southwest
+0.1 (+0.17%)
Boeing
+16.32 (+4.65%)
American Airlines
-0.19 (-0.62%)
OpenText
+0.99 (+2.38%)
Carbonite
+4.54 (+24.69%)
WeWork
+ (+0.00%)
T-Mobile
-1.28 (-1.58%)
SentinelOne
-0.2 (-3.27%)
Alphabet
-10.47 (-0.80%)
Alphabet
-9.77 (-0.75%)
Apple
+1.96 (+0.75%)
Agenus
+0.325 (+9.10%)
UroGen Pharma
+0.59 (+2.50%)
Plug Power
+0.205 (+7.54%)
MyoKardia
-4.51 (-7.52%)
Scientific Games
-1.74 (-5.51%)